UFC 115’s Most Memorable Moments

Jun 14, 2010

Mirko "Cro Cop" File Photo: Sherdog.com

The vast majority of fans thought UFC 115 would be a garbage night
of fights. Instead we got a night full of tension, drama and
violence that made picking just five moments worthy of recognition
near impossible.

Here comes my best shot.

Franklin Starches Liddell … with a Broken
Arm

Chuck
Liddell was starting to come alive, and Rich
Franklin was not enjoying the punches crashing into his
notoriously fragile chin.

Further complicating matters for Franklin was his left arm, which
he later revealed to be broken and was severely altering his
offensive output. As he has so many times in his career, Liddell
smelled blood and wasn’t about to let Franklin make it to the
second round.

Liddell’s trademark blitzkrieg ended with Franklin landing a
crunching, compact right on his chin and putting “The Iceman” down
and out in gut-wrenching fashion. It was a moment that perfectly
synthesized the athletic brilliance of mixed martial artists and
the brutal consequences that come with their job description.

Cro Cop Brings Back the Cemetery

Patrick
Barry dropped Mirko
Filipovic twice in the first round and was on the verge of
turning his lead leg into mush. Even the most fervent “Cro Cop” fan
had to know that this might be his last stand.

Then something happened that I never thought I would get to see
again: Filipovic threw his left high kick of doom, and it changed
the fight without even landing. Shades of the Filipovic of old
followed, as he started using his underrated boxing skills all the
while whipping that left leg with the reckless abandon his fans
have been begging for.

“Right leg, hospital. Left leg, cemetery.” It’s the greatest
tagline in MMA history for a reason, folks.

Thiago Cage Walks for His Life

Near the end of the first round of his fight with Paulo
Thiago, Martin
Kampmann locked on his trademark figure-four guillotine. Even
better for Kampmann, he had Thiago trapped against the cage with
seemingly no escape route.

An elevated camera angle caught a brief glimpse of Thiago’s face,
and it looked like his eyes were set to escape his skull because of
the massive pressure being put on his neck. One thing you couldn’t
see on Thiago’s face, though, was an iota of quit. The Brazilian
super-cop walked his feet across the cage and miraculously escaped
the so-called “death choke.”

It was a moment that served only to save Thiago from getting
stopped, as Kampmann would go on to take a well-earned clean sweep
of the judges’ scorecards. None of that, however, does anything to
take away from the nail-biting drama and tension of watching
someone choose fight over flight.

Jackson Goes Duke Evers

With his fighter down two rounds to none entering the final stanza,
Greg Jackson had no profound technical advice for Carlos
Condit. Instead, Jackson did something more corners need to do
in MMA: He told his fighter the truth.

Condit was losing and needed to run over Rory
MacDonald to have any chance of winning. Jackson told him as
much and made it clear nothing less than maximum effort would get
the job done. Four minutes and 53 seconds later, Condit notched an
improbable TKO win.

Danzig Wins Over the Universe

Mac
Danzig was in trouble, but he was fighting his way out of it.
The willingness to take on adversity without so much as blinking is
a necessary trait for any serious fighter, and Yves Lavigne robbed
Danzig of the chance to finish what he started.

No one would have blamed Danzig if he had spewed nothing but
vitriol for Lavigne in his post-fight interview. Instead, Danzig
calmly explained in accessible language why the stoppage was unjust
while simultaneously reminding the crowd that refereeing a fight is
a tightrope walk.

Long regarded as something of a misanthrope thanks to his run on
“The Ultimate Fighter 6,” Danzig won over everyone who understands
that class and dignity are traits that shine through in the most
difficult situations.